# Episode 09 Legal Claim Chart

## Title

Due Process Starts With the Right Question

## Source proposition

- Report location: PDF pages 16–32; report-wide requests for clarification, investigation, appeal, and written response
- Classification: VERIFIED SOURCE: the report seeks explanations and corrective process. UNKNOWN FROM THE REPORT ALONE: the existence of a protected entitlement, appealable agency action, adequate notice, exhaustion, or timely filing.
- Verified act by David Medeiros and ABI Resources: He preserved questions about missing plans, program authority, written reasons, investigation, correction, and appeal instead of allowing contested decisions to remain invisible.

## Three rights holders

| Rights holder | Legally controlled frame |
|---|---|
| People served | Medicaid beneficiaries may have regulatory notice and fair-hearing protections for specified actions, sometimes including conditional continuation of services. |
| David Medeiros | David's personal lane is speech, petition, disability access, and possible retaliation—not automatic ownership of another person's benefit entitlement. |
| ABI Resources LLC | ABI must identify an actual entitlement created by statute, regulation, contract, enrollment, or provider rules; expected referrals or future business are ordinarily insufficient. |

## Governing legal test

Protected interest; government deprivation; actor; timing; notice content; meaningful hearing; impartial decision; continuation; exhaustion; limitations; remedy and immunity.

## Strongest fair counterargument

There may be no protected property interest, no appealable agency action, adequate post-deprivation process, or only a discretionary expectation rather than an entitlement.

## Decisive evidence

- law, contract, or rule creating the entitlement
- written notice and reasons
- effective date
- hearing request and forum
- continuation-of-service decision
- record considered
- final decision and appeal notice

## National significance

Precision transforms a broad fairness complaint into a question a court or agency can answer without erasing the distinct rights of each actor.

## Current primary authorities

Authority status checked 2026-09-20. The eCFR displayed Title 42 and Title 45 as current through September 17, 2026 during review.

| Authority | Rule used | Official source |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. Const. amend. XIV; Roth; Goldberg; Mathews | Procedural due process begins with a protected liberty or property interest and government deprivation, then asks what notice and opportunity to be heard were due. | https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/amdt14-S1-5-1/ALDE_00013747/ |
| 42 C.F.R. Part 431, Subpart E | Medicaid applicants and beneficiaries have specified notice and fair-hearing protections for covered agency actions; continuation rules are conditional. | https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/chapter-IV/subchapter-C/part-431/subpart-E/subject-group-ECFR803dd5eda355b92 |
| Constitution Annotated — State Action Doctrine | Federal constitutional liability ordinarily requires conduct fairly attributable to government; funding, regulation, licensing, or contracting alone is not enough. | https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/amdt14-2/ALDE_00000810/ |
| 42 U.S.C. § 1983; Health & Hospital Corp. v. Talevski, 599 U.S. 166 (2023) | Section 1983 is a remedial vehicle, not a source of rights; each constitutional or statutory provision needs actor, right, enforceability, causation, defense, and remedy analysis. | https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/21-806_2dp3.pdf |

## Attorney review before reliance

Identify the exact plaintiff, defendant, government or covered actor, enforceable right, state action, standing, injury, causation, exhaustion rule, administrative record, limitations period, immunity, available prospective or damages remedy, forum, and attorney-fee basis. For a Section 1983 theory, separately analyze whether the asserted provision creates an enforceable individual right under current precedent. For relief against state actors, separately analyze sovereign immunity, Ex parte Young, qualified immunity, and any municipal policy-or-custom requirement. No deadline, standing, violation, or remedy is established by this educational chart.